Broken siren sparks question of siren security in Mid-Missouri

A Mid-missouri town loses it’s storm warning signal in the middle of severe weather season.

Kingdom City officials are working to fix or replace it but it will take time.

Emergency management officials say there are dangers of having no warning system which often times, small towns don’t.

Now, a $25,000 system in Kingdom City is out of commission.

The Kingdom City city manager says the city is debating if they should fix the siren or replace it.

He stresses it needs to be back up and running as soon as possible so they don’t have a similar situation as Renick.

“We had some tornado warning here about two weeks ago and severe weather,” said Callaway County CommissionerDon Kritzer.

But if that were to happened again, the city’s weather siren wouldn’t sound. Two weeks ago, someone backed into the sirent’s base, which is stationed near I-70.

City officials are working to fix the problem but it will take at least another month.

“To be able to provide them with some emergency notification is the main thing,” Kritzer said.

However, Callaway County’s more than 40,000 residents can sign up for warning and alerts for any mobile device.

We also spoke with counties who also have smaller towns without warning systems.

Randolph County suffered a severe loss seven years ago: A deadly tornado swept through Renick, killing four people.

Emergency management agency official Robert Creed said when the tornado hit, only Moberly and Huntsville had a warning system.

Now, only Jacksonville is left without a siren and the county is in the process of getting one.

In Boone County, officials test the emergency siren on the first Wednesday of every month to make sure they work.

All officials stress the importance of a working siren system.

“It’s one of the better ways to notify when inclement weather is coming in or if there is a significant threat from inclement weather at the time,” said Brian Maydwell with the Columbia-Boone County Joint Communication.

Kingdom City officials say insurance will cover the cost to repair or replace the broken weather siren.

Repairs would cost nearly $10,000. Replacing the siren will cost nearly $12,000.